QF-100 Drone

Last revised January 30, 2010

Numerous outdated F-100Ds were modified as pilotless drones to give Air
Force pilots and Army ground-to-air missile crews experience against
realistic targets. These aircraft were redesignated QF-100.

In August of 1979, a contract was awarded to Sperry Flight Systems for
the conversion of 9 QF-100 drones. Two were YQF-100 development
aircraft with added cockpit controls so that they could be flown by
pilots for system evaluation. Three were built to standard USAF
target configuration, three were built to Army requirements, and one
was a two-seat version. The eight F-100Ds converted to QF-100
configuration had the serial numbers 55-3610, 55-3669, 56-2912,
56-2978, 56-2979, 56-3048, 56-3324, and 56-3414. The single F-100F that was converted had
the serial number of 56-3984.

Following these tests, a total of 209 QF-100 conversions were made by
Tracor/Flight Systems Division from F-100s that had been preserved at
the Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona. These conversions were painted
bright red-orange and had a few extra blade antennas for the
transmission and reception of radio signals from the
remote-controllers on the ground. The last QF-100 conversion by Sperry took
place in April of 1985, but FSI was still carrying out QF-100 conversions at their Mojave, CA
facilty for several more years thereafter.

The takeoff of the QF-100 drone was directed by two ground-based
controllers positioned at the end of the runway. Once airborne, the
drone was handed off to a third controller sitting in a fixed-base
ground station. A dual redundant system was used to get the drone to
the mission area and to select the maneuvers. The maneuvers were
pre-programmed into on-board computers. If the drone survived the
mission, it was flown back to the handover point, where the two
controllers at the end of the runway brought it back in for a landing.

The first unpiloted flight of a QF-100 took place on November 19, 1981
from Tyndall AFB in Florida. Recently, the QF-100 has been used as a
target in the AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile)
program. The first AMRAAM kill against a QF-100 took place on
September 17, 1985. The lifetime of a typical drone was about ten
flights before it was destroyed.

Sources:

North American F-100 Super Sabre, David A. Anderton, Osprey, 1987

The North American F-100 Super Sabre, Ray Wagner, Aircraft in Profile,
1965.

United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and
Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.

The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.

Fighters of the United States Air Force, Robert F. Dorr and
David Donald, Temple Press Aerospace, 1990.